Day three was nothing short of amazing! I can’t get over how beautiful this part of the country is. Every view was better than the last! We started the day in Logan, Utah. When we checked in last night it was dark, so we didn’t realize how close the mountains were. What a pleasant surprise! To make the morning even better, we found Johnny O’s Spudnuts right behind the hotel. Who doesn’t like to start their day with specialty doughnuts?? Except that these are spudnuts, not doughnuts. They are made with potato flour instead of wheat flour. That makes sense with us being so close to Idaho.
Speaking of Idaho, that was first up on today’s agenda. We made our way to I-15 and drove north through Utah and into Idaho. The whole area was gorgeous! It really reminded me a lot of Europe. You have all the green mountains with tiny little towns or individual houses sprinkled through them. I would highly recommend this drive! We continued up to Idaho Falls and exited I-15N and traveled to the Grand Teton Biway. This took us through more amazing scenery as we made our way to our stop for lunch in Victor, Idaho. I found Grumpy’s Goat Shack on the Roadtrippers app. It was seriously a hole in the wall kind of place, but it was very cool. It was a small ‘shack’ with several picnic tables and a grill outside. They serve up specialty hot dogs and hamburgers that they cook to order on the outside grill. Paddon and Paili went with traditional hamburger and hot dog, but I felt like I needed to try something authentic to the area. So I ended up with a Grand Teton Dog, which comes with a hot dog on a poppy seed bun with japaleno cream cheese, diced onions, and crumbled Lay’s potato chips. I wasn’t sure about this combination at first, but I have to admit that it was pretty tasty.
After lunch it was time to head to Jackson, WY. Originally we were going to check into the Spring Creek Ranch first, but the kids decided they wanted to ride the tram first. I have found that when traveling with the kids, it’s good to be flexible and give them a little say in the agenda. There’s less push back that way. With that being the case, we set the GPS for the tram at Jackson Hole. It was a short 35 minute drive from Victor, ID through the Grand Teton mountains. The views were magnificent! At the top of the mountain, there is a pull off overlook area with a sign that is perfect for taking pictures with. It points directly to Jackson Hole.
Exploring Jackson Hole was the highlight of our day! We took the tram to the top of Rendezvous Peak, which is a little pricey, but definitely worth the money. The tram takes about 10 minutes to travel 2.5 miles up to the summit. Be prepared for the cold weather though. It is COLD and WINDY up there! My daughter was convinced that the wind was going to blow her off the mountain. Thankfully that was not the case! The kids were amazed that there was still snow on the ground at the end of June, but they were ready to head back down when the next tram arrived 15 minutes later. We are not cold weather fans.
Back down at the base of the mountain, we continued to explore Jackson Hole and found a horseback trail ride crew. They were actually getting ready to close, but were sweet enough to go out on one last ride for us. Even though Paddon was not thrilled about horseback riding, he was a good big brother and agreed to do it for his sister. She was ecstatic that we were going on the trail ride! It was an hour-long ride up through the mountains with a personal guide. Since it was the end of the day, it was just us and our guide, Landon. He was great! He told us all about the area and about the horses and all the different jobs they have. I would highly recommend this trail ride.
We finished the trail ride around 6:30 pm and the kids were anxious to get to the hotel. They were hoping for some pool time. The Spring Creek Ranch is situated on a smaller mountain in Jackson. There is a main building for the check in process and the shared amenities. Behind the main building there are several cabins around the ranch. Our room is on the second floor of our cabin and has a spectacular view of the mountains and the little pond behind our cabin. Once we were checked in and settled, the kids were begging for pool time. These kids are hard core…it was only 62 degrees by this time! Thank goodness for heated pools! As I was walking the kids to the pool we ran into our first wildlife. There were prairie dogs everywhere!! They didn’t even seem scared of us at all.
After some pool time, we were all ready to get some dinner and take a walk around the property. It was perfect timing as the sun was setting behind the mountains. What a great way to end an amazing day! Time to get some rest so we’ll be ready for tomorrow’s adventure…Yellowstone!
